Potential Mistakes | Tag - Open

[ilyas aylin]

Lies only last so long, as does money.

So, that old woman at the motel was smarter than she looked, and a lot less gullible. Should he feel guilty for not paying her a cent for the four weeks he’d spend on that room? Maybe. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice; he had no money. And no job. And in a place like this, getting a job wouldn’t be easy. The man wasn’t qualified for anything, had no degree or whatsoever, not even job experience. The only thing he could surely do was hunt, and survive, but he doubted the latter would be worth anything in a town such as this one, and come to think of it, neither was the first.

A soft roar sounded from the sky, thick, dark clouds packing over the city, darkening the streets. It’d rain soon. Big, heavy drops fell from the sky, faster and faster, until it was pouring rain. Ilyas lifted his face up, allowing the drops to fall on his exposed skin. Everywhere around, people would run for shelter, trying to stay dry, as if a little amount of water would cause them to melt, as if they were made of sugar. Not Ilyas. The cold water drenching him felt refreshing, almost like a relief. He wasn’t effected by the chilly breeze, that was nearly cold enough to freeze the little raindrops falling on his face.

He should’ve been worried, now that he strolled the streets without a purpose and without being able to resort to anything, anyone. The last chance of having a roof over his head had gone up in smoke when the old lady threatened to call the police and spread his picture all over town. She’d been crying, telling him to leave before she’d do something she really didn’t want to do. And so, he obeyed her; he’d already caused her enough strain and sorrow anyway.

What was wrong with him? Why did he never manage to fit in somewhere?

It started to bother him. Not because he wanted to fit in so badly, but simply because he’d realized by now that this place wasn’t easily left behind; he’d tried, in vain. Somehow, there seemed no way out. And in a place he couldn’t escape, it probably wasn’t very wise to make more enemies on a daily basis. He huffed softly as he picked up his pace again. ‘Screw them,’ he thought to himself. Some things would never change. People were one of those things, they’d always be the same. They cared only about themselves. Not in a million years would he want to fit in with them, even if it was for his own good. Probably very stupid, but Ilyas was more stubborn than anything.

He came to a halt in front of an alley, the rain still dripping down at a fast rate. The alley ran dead, was filled mostly with trashcans and other junk and didn’t seem like a place many would visit. It’d be perfect, perfect to spend the night. It was getting dark fast, mostly due to the rain, but also because the night was near. The blonde man took a right turn, into the narrow street. It was dark, the lanterns broken or simply not turned on, because why would they be turned on in a dirty back alley like this one?

Glancing over his shoulder, Ilyas made sure he wasn’t followed. It made no sense; no one would follow him. No one had a reason to, but somehow, he was always so paranoid. When his eyes couldn’t catch any movement, he continued his way and a moment later, sat down behind a bunch of cans, out of sight from everyone. His leather jacket he used to cover himself, just in case he’d get cold; it’d at least save him from freezing. He rested the back of his head against the hard, irregular wall. The circumstances were poor, and yet, he’d had to suffer worse in the past. Slowly, his eyes fluttered close; apparently, he was more tired than he’d thought initially.

[cynthia aphrodite georgiou]

I got so sick of being on my own,
Now the devil won’t leave me alone
It’s almost like I’ve found a friend

Aphrodite leant back in the backseat of the car, resting her head against the leather of the seat as it started moving down the road. Setting the five bags down on the seat next to her, she let out a sigh of relief. After a semi-successful day of five hours or so of shopping, her feet felt like they were being stabbed repeatedly with needles. I hadn’t even been that good. Next time she needed some new stuff, she would definitely shop online again. It was much more hassle free and there was a better range of items to choose from. This town had so little in it; it was a wonder that she had been able to fill at least one bag worth of stuff. Aphrodite would need to splurge again online sometime in the near future. It had started raining just as she was coming out of the last shop and she really didn’t want to walk home in the rain, despite it being a fifteen to twenty minute walk. That and trying to carry five pretty full bags and an umbrella really didn’t fit well with her mood at the moment. “I’m getting lazier since we came here.” Aphrodite mumbled to herself, closing her eyes for a second. Her parents wouldn’t be too happy with her doing this, but they weren’t exactly doing anything with the car at the moment. The chauffer had been sitting around lately, looking like he needed to do something. Even he looked bored and that was saying something.

Lifting her head off the seat, Aphrodite rested her elbow on the arm rest, letting her head rest in her hand as she stared out the window. It was a dreary day to say the least and had started off so pleasantly. She had looked forward to finding some new items today, but since the shops weren’t all that good, her findings hadn’t been all that good either. Her mind wandered off as she started thinking about what she could do with the stuff she’d bought today. Obviously she would keep some of it, most of it in fact. It really depended on how she felt later on. Aphrodite was so deep in thought when she nearly missed a lone figure walking down the street. It had a familiar shape and size to it. Someone she’d seen before perhaps? Then again, this town was so tiny; she was bound to see a couple of the same people more than once. She could have seen them before, when she was “shopping”. She dismissed the thought, it would be a waste of time to try and figure out who this person was. However, as they got closer, a nagging feeling got louder in the back of her mind. Aphrodite definitely knew this person from somewhere, but it hadn’t clicked just yet. It wasn’t until the person turned and headed down a dark alleyway and Aphrodite’s car went past, did she fully recognize who it was.

It was the old guy she’d met!

Well that certainly was a surprise. Three sightings in more than four weeks, which certainly was something. She wasn’t sure whether or not she was happy about seeing him here. But there was something off about what he’d just done. It wasn’t everyday she saw someone walking down a dead ended alleyway. Especially this late at night and when it was practically pouring down with rain. She hadn’t spotted any homeless people around here since everyone practically had a home and she didn’t think it was right that he wasn’t at home either. Unless he was up to something. Aphrodite sighed. “Turn around and go back to where that alleyway that man went down. I recognise him. Pull up next to the curb.” She stated to the driver. He gave a small nod before finding somewhere to do a U turn in. It didn’t take long to get back to roughly where the guy had turned in to. Aphrodite grabbed a spare umbrella that was conveniently placed within the car and headed out, opening it as she got out of the car. She shivered a bit as her warm body hit the cold air. It didn’t help that she was wearing a short sleeved top today. Not the best clothing choice, she had to admit.

Walking down the alley as softly as she could, Aphrodite concentrated on her powers and blended in with the shadows cast around the alley. She couldn’t be too careful and using her powers now would be great. She kept her eyes peeled for the male who walked down here, nearly tripping over him in the process. Squatting down to the unmoving body, Aphrodite held the umbrella over both of them, squinting at the males form. He wasn’t dead, she could tell that for sure, he was still breathing. He must be sleeping. She thought. A flutter of emotion appeared in her chest. She couldn’t just leave him out there. Something might happen to him. Catching a cold could be one thing, but out here in the cold, it would most likely be worse if he didn’t stay warm. Letting out an exasperated breath, Aphrodite stood up, stalking out of the alley, her powers fluttering to a close as she did and opened the door to the front seats of the car. Placing her umbrella into the seat, she spoke. “He’s in there. I’ll need some help getting him into the car. He’s quite heavy.” The driver looked at her, dumbfounded for a few seconds before she snapped at him. “Now!” She slammed the door shut and trotted back into the alley, the drive following her a few seconds later.

"You take his arms, I’ll get his legs.” Aphrodite grabbed the guys ankles and pulled. His body rose after a few seconds and she nearly sagged under his weight. She wasn’t really the muscled type since most of her ability lay with agility. They did manage to carry the males body into the car, sliding it into the back seat. Boy was she going to have trouble explaining this to her parents. She slid into the empty seat next to him, buckling herself up as the drive pulled out and headed towards the house. Aphrodite pulled her phone out of her pocket, dialling her parents home number into it. Someone picked up within a few seconds. “Hey Mary, is mitra there?” Mary was their maid, she understood a few basic Greek words, but that was it. A few seconds later and her mother was on the other end. In a few short minutes, Aphrodite had explained the situation, all in Greek, to her mother, her faint accent becoming more pronounced as she spoke. Her mother seemed to understand, it was her father she was worried about. Aphrodite hung up, pushing the phone into her pocket and looked over at the still sleeping male. It was a wonder how he was still asleep.

It didn’t take long. Within ten minutes, they were back at the house. Her mother was standing in the door way as they pulled up in the drive, the maid standing two metres behind her. They both came rushing out the second Aphrodite opened the door. She handed the bags to Mary and gestured to the male for her mother. It took a few minutes, but through the combined effort of herself, the driver and her mother, they got him out of the car and into the house. It took them a little while longer, however to get him up the stairs and into one of the spare rooms. Carrying a 6ft many up two flights of stairs was not an easy job. Mary came up a few minutes after and dealt with making sure he was comfortable enough. Her mother had fussed about the mess he would make on the sheets, but had allowed him to use the bed anyway. They could always find more sheets somewhere else anyway. “Get some food ready for when he wakes up, make sure he has a hot drink as well.” Aphrodite told her. She nodded, her mother following her a few seconds later. Aphrodite knew what they would get. It was a thick white bean soup made from various beans, vegetables and herbs that her mother used to make her back in Greece for if she had a cold. It helped a lot and it seemed like the right sort of thing. Well it did for her mother. Her mother had been making some this morning since it had been getting colder during the week.

Aphrodite looked down at the male, hopefully comfortable in the bed he was sleeping it and turned around. She nearly jumped as she saw her father standing in the doorway. “patera.” She said, her hands folding behind her back. “Your mother explained what’s going on.” He said. “I’m fine with it, but we’ll need to talk later for how long he’s staying. Hopefully overnight should suffice enough.” He gave Aphrodite a stern look and walked out the room before she could get a word in edgeways. She rolled her eyes and walked over to the five bags that were at the top of the stairs. Picking them up, Aphrodite walked back into the room, sitting on an empty chair before setting the bags down on the floor and pulling out a book from one of them. Despite what people thought of her, she did like to read. Luckily she had managed to find a book in Greek and had bought it. It had looked pretty good in the store and it was practically the only Greek one there, so Aphrodite thought she would give it a try. Settling in the chair, she flipped open to the first page and started reading, just waiting for the male to stir.

Ooc: Mitra = Mother, patera = Father. Yes I could’ve looked what she was saying in Greek up, but I’m a little lazy like that. It would’ve take me a while to try to sort it all out anyway.

[ilyas aylin]

Dark were the dreams of the blonde man as he attempted to find some rest in the alleyway. The raindrops falling on his face he didn’t notice, nor how his clothing slowly got soaked by the water that fell from the sky, in great amounts. The drops were large and drummed rhythmically on the trashcans and garbage around. It was almost a peaceful sound. Almost.

Sleeping in was never the problem for the man. After all, his body eventually stopped functioning and forced him to rest. It was what happened when his eyes were closed and he slowly drifted away, far from this world, that it all started. The dreams, the nightmares, the memories; all things that greatly haunted him. Good dreams were too painful, because they reminded him of what he didn’t have. Bad ones reminded him of what he’d lost and would never gain again. And the memories were just a reminder; a reminder of everything, of what a bad person he was, of how he would never find peace and how, if life were to end one of these days, he wouldn’t truly mind. Karma, they called it. Some got what they deserved. But what the blonde man still couldn’t understand was why his life hadn’t ended that faithful night, now nearly three years ago. Why they had to die, while they were innocent and the most beautiful people the world had ever contained, or would ever contain in the future. Ever. He was a monster, he had deserved it. Not them. There was no God, no merciful savior somewhere high up in the sky, that protected the good and vanquished evil. There was no God who passed judgement and separated right from wrong.

There was no God. There was only fire. Flames that reached up high, all the way to the sky and beyond. And screams of agony and pain, never ending pleas to be saved, cries for help. Cries for him, but he wouldn’t come. He wouldn’t save them. He couldn’t. Every night, he’d see their eyes, their hair, raven black and long. And he’d hear her voice in the back of his mind.

‘Don’t forget us, daddy’.

This night was the same as all others were. The booze hadn’t helped again. It had clouded his mind shortly, but did not erase it. And as soon as his blue orbs closed for the night, desperate to find the rest the man so dearly needed, the images started to play in the darkness, the memories coming to life once more. Every night was the same. Every night the same.

Not even the warmness of a soft bed helped. Ilyas had noticed little of the change of his environment. He’d stirred a couple of times during his ‘journey’ here, but his mind was stuck somewhere else and the alcohol most likely helped to keep him there tonight. As his head lay on the embroidered pillow, his wet and gritty hair staining its whiteness, his face expressed the emotions he experienced in his sleep; in a wake state, he was able to control them. Not now. Brows furrowed, eyelids twitched, fists clenched. And slowly, his lips parted as well as he softly murmured some words, all inaudible, except for one. He murmured a name.

“Mahina.”

More stirring followed after the name was spoken out loud, as if the dreams just intensified for a moment. Had there been any liquids in the room, they’d surely froze over at that moment, just before a loud gasp came from the man’s lips and his icy blue eyes shot open, staring straight at the ceiling. For a moment, he just lay there, his breathing fast and irregular as his eyes blinked slowly. It took him a while, but he soon realized this wasn’t the place he’d fallen asleep at. Slowly, he allowed his eyes to gaze around. First to the left, where he spotted a nightstand with a lamp on top and the white sheets of a comfortable bed, then to the right slowly. The first thing he saw there were Greek letters; even though he couldn’t read Greek and his eyesight was still a little vague, he did recognize the writing. As he lifted his eyes a little further, they fell on a form of a human, a girl, with very familiar red hair. His eyes slowly started to adjust, so that the figure's face became clear as well. It was her. That girl, that redhead he’d last seen in the bar, a couple of days ago; or perhaps it had been longer ago, he couldn’t actually remember. That very night hadn’t ended so pretty either.

“You..” When he recognized her, he knew she had something to do with where he was now and since he was instantly suspicious, as always, he jolted upright; a bad decision, because his head immediately started to pound crazily and the room started to spin. The man clutched his head, hoping that would make at least the moving surroundings come to a stop, but it wasn’t very affective. Shutting his eyes tightly was a better solution for the time being. “Where am I? Why are you here? What did you do?” There was no use in waiting; he blurted out his questions at once; he wanted answers. By now, he knew the redhead a little and he’d learned she never did anything without gaining something for herself. She must’ve had something up her sleeve and Ilyas wasn’t about to allow her to play with him; not again. She enjoyed herself far too much the last time he'd let her.

“Answer me!” The pounding headache didn’t help the man to be more patient.

[cynthia aphrodite georgiou]

I got so sick of being on my own,
Now the devil won’t leave me alone
It’s almost like I’ve found a friend

Aphrodite looked over the top of the book as the male started to stir, only looking back down when she was sure nothing was going to happen. That’s when a small whisper caught the air. She was barely able to hear it, but she knew that he’d said something. It sounded like a name. Something being with M. Aphrodite couldn’t really piece it together, but it sounded along the lines of ‘Mahina’ or something. She wasn’t sure, but she kept the name logged in her brain for future questioning. It had to be something important otherwise the male would’ve have said it. She concentrated on her book, continuing on from where she had got distracted by the mans stirring. From what she had read so far, it was turning out to be a pretty good book. Turned out the book was about Greek Folklore, Mythology and the like, which was something she never heard much about as a child. All she knew about were the basic Gods and Goddesses due to her naming and that was it. She hadn’t really bothered reading much about it since it didn’t interest her at all, but reading the book, it turned out the stories were pretty cool. The one she was currently reading was about

Her head shot up as she heard a sudden intake of air coming from the bed. Aphrodite lowered her book a little book, looking over at the bed. So the man had finally awakened. It had taken him a while to say the least. Various times, Mary had come in to check on how he was doing and asking if he needed anything. Each time, Aphrodite had turned her away and keeping all liquids out of the room. She had seen what he was capable of and she didn’t want to make an even bigger mess in the spare room of the house. As soon as she was sure that the male had awoken, Aphrodite whipped her phone out and sent a small text to her mother saying to bring the food up soon. She managed to get the mobile back into her pocket just as the guy looked over at her.

It looked like the male had recognised her at last before sitting up with a flash. Aphrodite let out a small laugh as he bolted upright and then clutched his head. So the male had been drinking. It wasn’t a surprise really. The guy always seemed to be drinking, no matter what mood he was in. No wonder he was so moody all the time, most of the time he probably had a hangover. In her mind, he deserved it. But it also meant she’d have to deal with something else on top of having to keep him from storming out of the house after getting him here. She looked down at the book as the seconds ticked away. She didn’t look back up when the water sprite started pouring out questions either. Clearly the effects of the hangover were taking a toll on his patience. She waited a few more seconds and was about to reply when he practically snapped at her. Letting out a small chuckle, Aphrodite quickly finished reading the page. “Shouting at people won’t get you anywhere in this house.” She bookmarked the page and looked up at the male. “And I doubt it’s going to help that headache of yours either.”

Placing the book back in one of the shopping bags, Aphrodite heard a knock at the door. “Come in.” In came Mary with a bowl of soup, bread as well as a glass of water and some aspirin. While she was expecting the food and water, she was not, however, expecting the aspirin. Maybe she had missed the smell of alcohol on the males breath when they were bringing him home. Mary placed the tray of one of the two side tables. It was technically a breakfast tray and would’ve happily fit on the guys lap, but from his current state, it was best to place it on the side rather than on his lap. Mary left the room and Aphrodite shot her a small smile before she got out the room, closing the door behind her. “If you want to get rid of that headache, I suggest you take them and then get some food down you.” She’d had her fair share of headaches and food, water and painkillers always helped to get rid of it. Aphrodite crossed her legs as she watched the male for a few more seconds before speaking up. “If you start eating, I’ll answer your questions.” She nodded towards the tray.

“But only if you answer some for me in return.” There was always a catch, but hers was going to be much bigger than answering a few questions. This was just the first part of it.

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[ilyas aylin]

The first thing Ilyas could hear was the redhead’s laughter; surely, he could’ve woken up to something better than that. Then again, he was never lucky, so why would today be any different? That spoiled, little brat. This was probably her house, judging from the size of this room alone. And the sheets, that were soft as silk and as white as the snow that covered the highest peaks of the Alps in Switzerland, beautifully sparkling and untouched. A place that not many people would ever lay their eyes on and the blonde man was glad for that; human could only ruin such beauty. It felt so alien to his hands, sheets that were this soft and delicate, and so easily smudged. His muddy boots had ruined them, his wet hair had done the same to the pillowcase. What a waste of such decent stuff. It all raised more questions in his mind, because why would this girl provide him with anything. He eyed her suspiciously as she spoke about the headache he had. Well, she didn’t have to be a mind reader to figure out that much; he practically gave that detail away himself just now.

The knock on the door instantly caught Ilyas’ attention and he averted his eyes to the woman who entered. She carried a tray with something that smelled particularly good when one’s stomach was empty. Was this the girl’s mother? Probably not, since they didn’t look alike. It was most likely the help, the maid, a servant; Ilyas frowned at the thought alone. Then again, even a servant had a better life than he currently had; at least they earned themselves a decent amount of money to live from, and a roof over their heads. But being bossed around by a girl like this one; not in a million years was all of that worth having to obey her.

Without speaking a word, the older woman left the room again. Ilyas glanced over to the tray she’d left behind. She brought food, and it looked better than anything he’d had in the last couple of days. He most enjoyed seeing the water, though. The silence was broken by the redhead again, who thought she was in a position to give the man some good advice. She told him to take the pills; as if. He didn’t know what they were, nor what they would do and he never trusted modern medication anyway. Every headache passes, or you simply start drinking again if it doesn’t. The food was perhaps a little more tempting, but before the man truly considered eating it, the girl said something that caused his eyes to twitch slightly. He knew it. No one helped another person out of the kindness of their hearts. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth; that’s the way the human world worked.

No. No answer was worth having to give something in return. What did she think, that he was some kind of idiot? She obviously didn’t know him, but from their previous meetings, she must’ve learned he was far from that. Slowly, the man lifted his eyes to meet with the redhead’s blue ones. “You think you can blackmail me?” A very rhetorical question, and he didn’t await her answer to it.

“I don’t need your food, I don’t need your bed,” he hissed in a low voice; in case the older woman who was just in the room was still listening by the door, she wouldn’t be able to hear. “And I sure as hell don’t need your help.” The sheets were thrown aside and the man stood up in a swift movement. Of course that left his sight blurry and his head very light, but he didn’t plan to sit back down. He hadn’t asked for this child to bring him to her house and he wasn’t going to play along, not even in return for some food or answers. Luckily, they didn’t even bother to take off his boots, meaning he could easily stroll right out of this place. But he was missing something else. Where was his jacket? His eyes quickly searched around the room, but it wasn’t there. Where did people usually put their coats when they were inside a fancy house?

Leaving the room, Ilyas quickly found a flight of stairs that lead down and he didn’t waste another second, but descended quickly. His belongings had to be around here somewhere, but damn, this place was big. As he reached the bottom step, he found himself gazing around. First up, at the high ceiling, then to the left and right, simply taking in the size of the building. “Fancy Smancy,” he mumbled to himself as he walked around slowly, looking at the decorations in, what seemed to be, the hallway. All of this gave the blonde man the creeps, surrounded by all these riches and material things, he felt uncomfortable. As he walked past a mirror, decorated with golden details, Ilyas cringed slightly. He looked terrible, even he had to admit that. At least he was close to the door, and out of this place.

[cynthia aphrodite georgiou]

I got so sick of being on my own,
Now the devil won’t leave me alone
It’s almost like I’ve found a friend

Jesus almighty, this guy was as stubborn as a mule. Then again, Aphrodite should’ve learned that he was this stubborn from the two previous encounters that they’d had. But for once, why couldn’t he accept the help when he clearly needed it? It’s not every day that she held someone, let alone someone who clearly didn’t appreciate it. It’s not like she was going to ask much from him. Aphrodite would’ve responded to what the guy had to say, but he quickly stormed out of the room. She rolled her eyes and huffed. This guy had more issues than he realized himself. Had he always been this mind numbingly stubborn? Yes was the most likely answer to that question. She let herself lean back in the chair as she thought about what to do in this situation. Clearly she could force him to do anything he didn’t want too, there was a chance he could press charges against them for that. She couldn’t exactly sweet talk him into doing anything either, he would see straight past that in a blink of an eye. She wanted to get at least some questions answered, like why the hell was he sleeping in the middle of an alleyway in the first place. He was having some trouble, Aphrodite could figure that much out on her own.

Getting up, Aphrodite walked through the now open door and looked around the empty landing. She spotted the door open to the bathroom. She knew he hadn’t gone in there, she’d heard his footsteps go down the stairs when he left. It had to be the maid. Quickly walking over to the room, she leaned in and spotted the maid. “Mary, would you mind taking the tray back downstairs for me? He seems to want a little walk about.” Aphrodite gave her a smile as she spoke. The maid nodded and smiled back on her. Ever since they’d hired her, she had always been on friendly terms with her. While she wasn’t close to Mary, she was quite fond of talking to her when she wasn’t busy. It was Aphrodite who had suggested hiring her in the first place since she had nowhere else to go. Even if she did have little experience, Mary had proved to be quite useful. Her parents had welcomed her in with open arms all the same. As long as she followed the rules and did her job well, there would be no problems. Aphrodite walked out of the doorframe and headed into the spare room again. She heard Mary come in after her, grabbing the tray and heading downstairs. Aphrodite would quickly place her bags in her room before heading down herself.

A minute later and she was already down the first flight of stairs. Mary must have already made her way down since she saw no sign of her. But she hesitated as she reached the landing of the first floor. She heard a voice and it was Mary’s. Looking around, she spotted a vague shadow near the banister. Blending into the shadows, Aphrodite let herself eavesdrop on the conversation, even though she knew she shouldn’t. “Excuse me sir.” Mary’s voice seemed a little hesitant at first, but her words grew stronger in the next sentence. “I know you might not like the young miss, but she’s only trying to help. She doesn’t help everyone she meets. In fact you’re the person she’s shown this level of kindness to since we came here. She might not show it very well, but she does care, I guess she just has trouble expressing herself in ways people can understand.” The maid paused for a few seconds; probably letting her words sink in a little bit. Aphrodite was astounded to be frank. She didn’t really think it was like that. In fact she hadn’t really realized it herself until what Mary said. It was true that she didn’t show this much kindness to many people, especially to complete strangers, but that didn’t mean she cared about the guy. However, she let the maid continue on with what she was saying.

“In fact, the only other kindness she’s shown to anyone besides you since she moved here was to me. She’s the one that got me hired here in the first place. I had little experience in this sort of thing, I had nowhere to go, my family were gone and I could tell my previous job was going to go within a couple of days. The young miss found me kind of like she found you and brought me here. Somehow she managed to convince her parents to give me a job as a maid here. She practically saved my life.” The maid explained this within about a minute or so, only stopping to catch her breath. “I know that what I’ve told you might not mean anything to you and you might think she’s spoiled, but she’s a really kind person. Please don’t judge her too harshly.” From what Aphrodite could see from the shadows, the maid gave a small bow, leaving the tray on the side again and walked off. Aphrodite let herself take in what the maid had said before stepping out of the shadows. She walked down the rest of the stairs and across the hall until she was roughly two metres from where the male was standing. Her face was calm, if not clear of any emotion or recognition of what she’d just heard.

“If you’re at least not going to eat and let me answer your questions, you might as well leave through here. Your jacket’s in the car if you’re wondering where it is. I’ll go and get it for you.” She gestured to the door she was about to go out of. Aphrodite would rather get it than have the guy snooping around the car. She grabbed the keys off of the side, opening the door and stepping out. She unlocked the car doors, opening the back seat ones to be able to lean inside. Sure enough, when she did lean in, she found the old guy’s jacket laying across the back seat. They must have left it there when they carried him out.

[ilyas aylin]

Apparently, Ilyas had little other choice but to look for his jacket in this enormous place. He stepped away from the mirror and first gazed at the door leading outside. Logically, he’d figure people would keep their coats around there somewhere, but apparently not these people. Rich people probably kept their coats out of sight, although it was a mystery to Ilyas why they did so. Their coats were just as fancy as the rest of their stuff was, so they had nothing to be ashamed of. That they hid his jacket far away, he could somehow understand. They likely didn’t put it close to their own clothing either; just like the blonde man himself, the jacket didn’t really fit into these surroundings.

Looking the other way, the man noticed a door in the middle of the hallway; perhaps a storage room and currently, his best guess. Just as he reached for the handle, there were footsteps coming down the stairs and Ilyas sighed softly. He expected it to be the girl, and a lecture would follow soon after. With his hand still resting on the doorknob, he slowly glanced over his shoulder. It was a familiar face, but not the face the man had expected. His expression slightly softened as the maid addressed him and he listened to what she had to say. The woman genuinely seemed to believe the family that lived here cared for her. Wealthy people had the opportunity to change lives of those who were less fortunate, by only very simple actions and gestures. But Ilyas, as always, had difficulty believing they did so selflessly.

“Of course she’s hired you,” he said as he glanced at the woman. His voice was softer than when he’d addressed the girl just a few moments ago, but as always, it held this hint of coldness, or maybe, that was a matter of perception. “You’re her servant. She uses you, and she’s now attempting to do the same thing with me.” That was truly what he believed. This girl was good at manipulating people. She could twist and turn a situation in such ways, that it seemed as if it was in your best interest, but Ilyas wasn’t very susceptible to that. As for the maid, he could understand she’d jumped at such an opportunity presented to her; he couldn’t blame her for that. She’d secured her own future and even if she was being used by these people, she still seemed thankful to them for what else they provided for her. As for himself, Ilyas had never depended on anyone to take care of himself, except maybe his sister. A fair share of his life, he’d lived without a home, so technically, this place wouldn’t change his life that much. Whether he slept in an alleyway here, or a sewer somewhere else; it didn’t make a difference. He was just about to retort another comment of the maid when the last thing she added made him silent.

‘Please don’t judge her too harshly’.

Wait. Hold on just a minute. Ilyas shut his eyes for a moment. Without the maid realizing it, she made a painful point. He was doing one of the things he hated most in other people, that one thing they so often did to him. He was judging. True, it was quite difficult for a paranoid mind as his own to try and see the best in a person, but he had to admit he didn’t know the girl and therefore, he couldn’t be sure what her intentions were, nor if she truly was such a spoiled brat as he so far believed. The man sighed; coming to realize such a thing was really annoying. He’d hoped he’d shut up the voice inside his head, known as conscience, years ago, but apparently, it still lingered somewhere in the back of his mind. Perhaps she deserved the benefit of the doubt.

He still didn’t trust her, though.

Thinking of the ‘devil’, she just showed up behind his back. Well, at least that concluded where his jacket was. Of course he could’ve stopped her and sort of, maybe, apologized in a way, but he did really want his jacket back. For nostalgic sake, perhaps. Her answers could wait for a little longer, but just as she moved out of sight, the man could hear his stomach rumble. His blue eyes fell on the tray again; the soup would likely be cold by now, so instead of trying that, he took a piece of bread; eating the soup would take too long anyway. With the girl no longer in the room, he at least didn’t feel as if he was being watched while he ate the bread slowly, his eyes still scanning the building. On the other end of the hallway, straight across the door to the outside, was an archway that reached all the way up to the ceiling, again decorated with golden details. Since Ilyas really wasn’t a very patient person, and his curiosity about this place was now tickled, he decided he could as well go for a stroll around.

Apparently, the gateway lead to, what he thought to be, a living room. Or rather, a living ballroom. It was enormous, was luxuriously furnished with likely the most expensive products and had large windows, that provided a beautiful view on the huge gardens behind the house. The room contained too much to take in all at once. Ilyas walked along a light wall, that had several framed paintings hanging from it. He paused in front of a large canvas, in a silver frame. It surely had to be a portrait of the girl, who would soon figure out where the man had gone. As her form showed up in the doorway, Ilyas shortly glanced at her, before gesturing back towards the canvas. “Is this you?” he asked the obvious question, one of his brows raised. Unless her mother was very young, or they liked to hang paintings of random people, who happened to look a lot like the redhead, around the house, the answer would be rather obvious. “Damn. Fire the artist,” he stated just before turning around. “Doesn’t do you justice.”

[cynthia aphrodite georgiou]

I got so sick of being on my own,
Now the devil won’t leave me alone
It’s almost like I’ve found a friend

Aphrodite didn’t want to leave the house for long. She didn’t trust the guy completely to let him wander around her house unattended. Who knew what would happen if he got lost and ended up messing with something he shouldn’t. She had managed to get her parents to trust her on this, if something went wrong, then without a doubt, she would get the blame for it. She hooked the jacket over her arm and locked the car up. They would’ve placed it within the garage, but her parents other cars were already in there. Plus, they had more need for the one out here than the ones in the garage. They were only used if someone had taken the current one out and needed to go somewhere. Technically, Aphrodite could drive herself, she’d got her licence a year ago, but her parents wouldn’t let her drive on her own unless she had someone else in the car with her. Which she found totally unfair, since she was a perfectly capable driver and she’d proven countless times she was able to drive safely. Though she did tend to get a bit angry with people who didn’t hurry up themselves.

She hurried back in and was met with an empty hallway. Aphrodite rolled her eyes and sighed. He just could not help himself could he? She scanned the hallway, looking for any signs of where the male could have gone. Her eyes flitted over the tray. She did a double take. The bread was gone. However the soup was completely untouched. Aphrodite shrugged, at least he’d eaten something. She looked around the hallway one last time before heading towards the living room. It was the only room with an open door or at least looked like it had been walked through. The male must have seen her shadow because he pointed to a portrait that hung on one of the walls. Aphrodite cocked at eyebrow in his direction as he threw a compliment her way. “Wow. Thanks..I guess.” She was a bit gobsmacked at this. The painting at been done about half a year ago actually, so she hadn’t changed much. Plus, in this small town, it was the best that was offered. Aphrodite was pretty impressed with it herself. “Why the change of heart? I thought you didn’t want my help.” It did seem unusual. Was it something that Mary had said? Because he certainly wasn’t acting like this earlier.

The weight on her arm reminded her of why she had come in after him anyway. “Your jacket.” Aphrodite placed it over the side of the one of the sofas. She walked around the back of the male and looked over another painting, a few metres away from where the one of herself hung. “Those are my parents.” She nodded towards the painting. That one however, had been painted back in Greece and had been done a couple of years ago. Her parents were obviously younger and it showed. Her mother had the same coppery coloured hair as Aphrodite did, while her father had more an Auburn coloured hair. She had inherited most of her mothers facial features as well as height. Though many people had told her she’d got her fathers eyes, personality and on the odd occasion, body type. Both her parents were thin, but her father had muscles, despite the thinness. They had managed to get most, if not all of their possessions transferred over from Greece. They had done nothing to the house, apart from maybe repaint a few of the rooms and put their belongings into the rooms. They had been pleased with how the house had looked when they bought it that they didn’t change anything in it.

“Take a seat and you can let me answer your questions. Do you want anything to drink?” Aphrodite gestured to the many seats that were spread out in the room. “I don’t suppose you’re in the mood for any alcohol are you? There’s a cabinet over there if you want any. Help yourself.” It was the general use one. Her fathers one was upstairs in his study. No-one was allowed to take from there, only her father. “If not, I can always get Mary to whip something up for you.” Aphrodite walked over to one the leather seats, making herself comfortable within the chair. If he wanted to leave, now was the best chance he could get. She wasn’t going to let him go that easily without having a few questions answered herself. If he didn’t want to get roped up in discussion, it was probably the best idea. “Same goes for food or anything else you need.” It was the least she could do despite his rudeness earlier.

[/size]

[ilyas aylin]

“I didn’t necessarily have a change of heart,” he said simply, his eyes still aimed at the painting of the girl. No, it really wasn’t of his liking. Perhaps because it was too colorful, too modern; he couldn’t quite name the reason. Or maybe, it was simply the hollow look in her eyes. It lacked the passion she displayed in those orbs of hers, the fire. That must’ve been it. The painting of her parents, however, was a lot better. It looked older; the canvas showed little cracks here and there, and the vibe of the piece was overall a lot more appealing to the man. The fact that the two portrayed on the painting were her parents was quite easy to see. The man had the exact same blue eyes, the woman a similar type of red hair.

He hadn’t fully changed his mind, indeed, but there was nothing wrong with taking advantage of the current situation. “I still don’t want your help,” he said, shortly meeting her blue eyes, “But your servant said some things that.. perked my interest.” The corners of his lips curled upwards into a smirk then. Perhaps he could make his stay here a little more enjoyable. You know, pushing a few buttons here and there, feast on people’s reactions; the usual. “I know your secret.” A whisper, but loud enough for the redhead to be able to hear.

“So,” he started, his voice slightly mischievous, “You have a little crush on me, huh?” Internally, he was laughing like a small child, but on the outside, only a smirk was visible. Well, that wasn’t exactly what the maid had told him, but the girl wouldn’t know that. And besides, just hearing how she’d retort that comment would cause a good laugh. The man walked over to the chair that had his jacket resting over the armrest. It looked to be in the same condition as the last time he saw it, which meant the girl hadn’t done any damage to it. Not that there was much damage to be done, because it was already old and worthless to anyone, except for him. He shortly ran his fingers over the leather, a familiar feeling. Normally, the man would’ve declined an offer to sit down, but somehow, he figured this conversation could take a while, and since that was the case, why not make himself a little comfortable? “Alcohol?” he questioned in a rather surprised tone. He’d just had his breakfast; even for him it was too early to start drinking. At least, it normally was. This time, he simply shrugged his shoulders and strolled over to the place the girl had gestured towards. A place like this, so rich, would likely contain liquors he hadn’t tasted in years, because he couldn’t afford them. And indeed, browsing through all the bottle in the little cabinet, he found himself one of his liking. Although he would’ve liked a cube of ice, there wasn’t really a need for it; the man could chill his own drink just fine.

After pouring it into a fancy glass, Ilyas walked back over to the seating area, where the girl had already taken a seat. The redhead was so kind. Perhaps the maid had indeed been right and this girl had more to her than met the eye. Perhaps there was another side of her that Ilyas hadn’t seen, because he was too busy arguing with her. Yeah, as if; this was exactly what she wanted the man to think. Although even he had to admit their arguments were quite interesting. He’d only cursed himself for letting her get under his skin that one night, when she used his sister in an inappropriate manner. Oh well, it happened to the very best. It didn’t matter much anyway. So the girl now knew he had a sister; the chances of them ever meeting were non-existent. And even if that would happen, due to some strange twist of fate, Yaira would put this girl in her place without blinking her eyes even once. Such an encouraging thought.

The man then snickered shortly. “So, you do think I’m a fool.” As he took a seat straight across from where the girl was sitting, he gazed out of the large windows. It was a bright morning. The rain was gone, although it left its traces, since the whole garden glistered in the sunlight, the little drops of water illuminated by the light. “I’m still not going to answer anything for you.” The same smirk as before showed on his lips; no, he truly wasn’t planning to play along with this game and especially not according to this girl’s rules. Clearly, she was willing to go quite far to get her answers; she’d provided him with food and shelter and basically promised every one of his needs would be fulfilled here. As long as he’d obey, of course, although she forgot to mention that. When she said that she’d find the information on him she wanted and was willing to go to an extend for that, she wasn’t lying. “You can either accept that,” he said before sipping from his drink, “Or you can kick me out.” And in case she was planning to do that last, he’d quickly finish the drink he’d poured himself; that’d at least keep him warm for a little while.

[cynthia aphrodite georgiou]

I got so sick of being on my own,
Now the devil won’t leave me alone
It’s almost like I’ve found a friend

Aphrodite let a shrug fall off her shoulders as she leaned back in her chair. “Whether or not you have is no concern of mine.” It was weird at all. The male didn’t seem like the sort of person to give out compliments all that lightly unless he was playing some sort of game with the person. Something must have piqued his interest to start throwing out compliments. It was just a matter of time before she found out what he wanted. However, it didn’t take all that long before he said something that he might as well have said that he wanted something. She nearly snorted from the laughter that was bubbling around in her chest. Though Aphrodite couldn’t help but get a bit irked by how he’d said ‘servant’, instead of her actual name, even when he’d heard it before. “Call her Mary, it’s the least you could do.” He still show the same courtesy he’d shown her out in the hallway if he’d call her by her real name. She had one, so he might as well use it. It didn’t matter how long Mary had been in their family for, Aphrodite considered a member of the family. They’d grown close over the number of years they’d known each. Not that she’d admit that to the water sprite, but still. Finally, she let out a small laugh. “I highly doubt you know anything about me, honey.” She’d heard the conversation, Mary had said nothing that this man could use against her.

However, she had to restrain herself from crying with laughter what the guy just said next. Aphrodite managed to restrain herself to a simple smile instead. Well if they were going to play it like that, she could have herself a little fun. “I wouldn’t say it was little. It’s taking all my self control not to walk over there and kiss you right this second.” If this guy thought that something like that would annoy her, he was definitely mistaken. A fair share of the males she’d met and thought that and turned out to be wrong. Aphrodite wasn’t the best person for love, in fact she hardly thought of it. She’d realized that she never really needed the love from another human being apart from her parents to get by. Love didn’t get anyone anywhere these days and wasn’t useful for anything in her view. She didn’t really get the idea of why you’d go all gooey for someone in the first place, it seemed terribly painful at the end of the day. Only half of her attention was focused on the male now as he made his way to the cabinet. She didn’t say anything about the ice, figuring if he really wanted some he could ask. They had plenty in the freezer; she knew her father liked a cube or two with his drink.

Aphrodite continued to half watch the male walk across the room and take a seat, focusing a bit on her nails. She’d paint them later, there were getting long enough for her to be able to do it without it looking a bit weird. It wasn’t until he spoke again, did she look up at him. “I never said that. Though by the way you’re acting, you’re certainly building up that name for yourself.” She said, looking him dead in the eye. He certainly was a fool for thinking she was going to give up that easily. She wanted answers and she’d got a few from the situation at hand, the work she’d be able to do by checking the guy out and the previous encounters that they’d had already. There were just a few extra things she wanted to figure out herself. That was if she was ever able to get the answers from this guy. Their personalities clashed, she could see that for herself, but there was little she could do about that unless one of them changed in the next few seconds and gave up. Aphrodite had already done all the kindness she could offer today. Any that she would show after this point was more or less going to be forced.

“Well it seems like we’re at an impasse then, because no matter how much you ask, any questions you ask, will not be answered. Even if you come at me with your little ‘secrets’.” Aphrodite had the same expressionless mask on her face from before. She stood up, walked around the back of her chair and started pacing around the room. She let out a hollow laugh at the male’s next statement. “Well unless you want to walk fifteen to twenty minutes back into the town, with what looks like new rain clouds following you behind I suggest you start now. Then you can get back to having no money, sleeping in alleyways and generally mooching off other peoples kindness or whatever else you seem to do. If you want to do that, by all means, open the door and leave.” She explained, looking out the window. True to her word, there was a daunting looking cloud heading towards the village again. He wouldn’t get very far without being soaked again. “Or you could just relax here for the next couple of hours until we both come to an agreement to be able to answer each others questions.” Aphrodite shrugged and turned around. She started walking back around the room again, her eyes trained on the male in front of her. “Your choice of course.” She said, with a false smile on her face.

[/size]

[ilyas aylin]

Fair enough. ‘Servant’ wasn’t a very nice term and the blonde man had been wrong to use it. “I apologize for my choice of words,” he said simply, although he doubted an apology would matter much to the girl. At least she seemed to somewhat care for the woman; maybe she was more than a maid here. Either way, it was something Ilyas would likely never know.

A small snicker left the man’s lips. “I strongly recommend you find someone of your own rank, instead of a homeless vagrant,” he said with a teasing hint in his voice, but the joke was more on himself this time. He just as easily mocked himself as he did any other. He knew what he was, and he most definitely knew what he was not. At least she played along; perhaps it was the reaction he’d expected from her and that was why he was amused. If she wasn’t so sly and pushed him to answer her questions, they would’ve likely been able to have fun together. Strange thought; very strange, actually. Ilyas hadn’t considered anyone to be ‘fun’ in years, especially not one as young as this one was. He couldn’t deny they had things in common; they were both incredibly stubborn, refused to give up on things, had a similar type of humor, enjoyed a good glass of scotch. If only she wasn’t so pushy. And maybe if he wasn’t so uptight, but he had his reasons for that. Reasons that someone like her would never understand.

And she acted like a snake, so treacherous. But she was also overconfident. She seemed to truly believe she had him where she wanted to. Whatever happened to this girl to make her so.. cunning? Not that Ilyas really wanted an answer to that question; he didn’t care that much. Besides, if he gave it a little bit of thought, it would probably explain itself. She grew up in a rich environment, probably got everything she ever wanted by just snapping her fingers. It was likely she’d learned ways to manipulate people into doing what she wanted and when someone didn’t play by her rules, she had to come up with new ways. Lots of experience, she had.

The redhead talked quite a lot as she finally revealed her true means. Honestly, Ilyas would’ve respected her way more if she’d come out with what she wanted in the first place. Would she just have said what she wanted to know, instead of the sweet talking, he would’ve at least applauded her honesty. But then again, why would she, when her ways normally worked on people? Stick with what you know works, people say.

His choice? Well, that was just fabulous. The blonde man nodded slowly, gazing at his glass as he took in the words of the girl. When she’d finished talking and smirked at him, he gazed back at her with a straight face. Obviously, her proposal was one to consider, wasn’t it? The warmth inside this house versus the old outside. The roof over his head versus the rain falling down on him. The kindness of these people versus the loneliness on the streets. Many things to consider, so little time. He then shrugged his shoulders and took the last sip from his glass; he hadn’t filled it up properly anyway, he just wanted to taste the brown liquid. Surely, the taste was rich and full, but by now, he’d gotten so used to the cheap stuff, that at this moment, he could hardly appreciate something so expensive. After throwing another glance at the fancy glass, he placed it on the table in front of him.

Without speaking another word, he took his jacket from the armrest and swung it over his shoulder. Large paces got him in front of the girl swiftly and he just faintly winked at her as he walked past her, and out of the room. Really, she hadn’t honestly thought all those things would keep him here, had she? If she did, it only proved how little she knew about him. Unlike she might’ve thought, he enjoyed the rain, and the cold, and he wasn’t much bothered by it. He was so used to it by now, after living outside for so long. The fact he lived off people did bother him, but he’d been giving that some thought; it was fixable and most likely, without any help from the outside.

The man strolled past the stairs in the hallway, where the maid was just coming down. Ilyas eyed her shortly, even came to a halt for a second. He then showed her something that was close to a smile. “It was nice to meet you, miss,” he spoke to her in a kind manner before he continued his way, straight towards the door. He’d already lingered in this place long enough.

[cynthia aphrodite georgiou]

I got so sick of being on my own,
Now the devil won’t leave me alone
It’s almost like I’ve found a friend

Aphrodite couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the males choice. Of course that would be the choice he picked. He was far too stubborn to stay here and get the answers he wanted. She shrugged to herself. His loss. Next time she found him out on the street in the rain, she’d leave him to die. If he didn’t want help, she wouldn’t give it too him. She was a fool to think he’d willingly accept it whilst answering some of her questions in return for the answers she gave him. But maybe there was one last thing she could do to try and rein him in. It wouldn’t be easy and it was a pretty lame idea in terms of how she thought, but it was worth a shot. Following the male out of the room, Aphrodite stopped a short ways from where he’d just stopped in front of Mary. She leant against the room, her arms folded against her chest. She spoke only after the male had turned and started walking again and Mary had gone into the living room. “You know, it’s a shame you’re leaving because you’re going to have quite a surprise whe-” The sentence would’ve ended if it weren’t for the loud crash that came from the living room.

“Mary.” Aphrodite whispered, spinning around and nearly sprinted into the room. The whole room was practically normal, save for the fact that Mary was now crouching over what looked like a broken glass. The tray with the bowl of now cold soup lay, water and aspirin on the coffee table. Aphrodite walked over to the maid, a soft expression on her face as she crouched down. It was only then did she see that the female had a cut on her finger and was still trying to clean up the mess. “Mary, what happened?” Aphrodite reached out and very carefully lifted the maids hand up. She examined the cut on her finger before looking up at the maids worried face. “I-I’m sorry. My h-hands must have s-slipped and I guess I-I just dropped it.” Mary stuttered. Aphrodite left out a breath. “Well it doesn’t look deep, we’ll go and get this cleaned up. Sit down, I’ll be back in a minute.” The maid tried to protest, but Aphrodite was already out of the room and into the kitchen. Thankfully, her parents weren’t in there. It didn’t take long for her to be able to find the first aid kit and dustpan and brush before going back into the living room. Mary was now sitting on the sofa, holding her bleeding finger.

Whether the male was still in the house, Aphrodite didn’t know or care, she was focused on Mary at the moment and that was all that mattered. She placed the kit on the table, opening it up after crouching down by the side of the table. She got two things out of the kit; some antiseptic wipes and a plaster. Mary knew better than to protest against her actions. Aphrodite had always cared for the maid. If she had ever needed anything, Aphrodite had been the one to convince her parents to let the maid have it. If she needed to go out and run a few errands, Aphrodite again, would convince her parents. She cared for Mary like she would her own sister if she had one. She wasn’t as heartless as people usually made her out to be. Opening the wipe, she turned to the maid. “Give me your finger.” Aphrodite said softly. The maid held her finger out hesitantly and Aphrodite gently placed the wipe on her finger. Mary winced, breathing in sharply. Continuing to wipe away the blood until it was safe for the plaster to go on, she made sure not to hurt the maid even more. After a minute or two, she placed the wipe on the tray and opened the plaster instead. Very carefully, she placed the plaster over the cut, wrapping it over the finger until all the plaster had been used.

“There. Now you take the tray back into the kitchen and I’ll clean up this glass.” Aphrodite told the maid. Mary nodded, the worried look still on her face. The fact that she’d accidently broken a glass didn’t seem to be sitting well with her, especially having to tell her parents. They were scary to people outside of the family. “Don’t worry about my parents. I’ll deal with them later.” While Mary seemed to relax a little bit, she could see the tension in the female still. Aphrodite shut the first aid kit and got to work on cleaning up the mess. It took about a minute or two to be able to find all the little pieces of the glass. She then returned to the kitchen, sweeping the glass into the bin, placing by the pan, brush and first aid kit back into their original places. Now to deal with the male. If he was still here of course. “If you’re still here, you might as well leave. You’ve caused enough trouble.” Aphrodite called out as she dusted her hands off and walked into the hallway.

[/size]

[ilyas aylin]

The redhead gave it another try, it seemed, and tried to persuade the blonde man one more time with her seductive voice. No, the surprise would be on her, really. Next time she’d run into him – if that were to ever happen – he’d be in a different position. He would manage just fine on his own and she’d notice that when—

The sound of shattering glass coming from the living room caught Ilyas’ attention as well and tore him away from his thoughts. His eyebrows furrowed a little. Really, it could only be one person causing the noise, since the girl was still standing in the hallway and her parents were nowhere to be seen ever since the blonde man had woken up, except for maybe on the painting. It had to be the maid. Ruby didn’t seem untouched by it; with a fast tread, she hurried out of the hallway and back into the living room. Ilyas could hear her voice coming from the other room, although he couldn’t make out the words. Just in case she’d need some help – because she surely wouldn’t come back over and ask it – he strolled over to the doorway too and peered inside.

Mary’s form was arched on the ground, with the red lass next to her. A second later, she hurried to the other end of the room and disappeared from the man’s view; there probably was another door there, leading to a bathroom or whatever. Taking a small step forward, Ilyas checked if the girl really had left the room. He could no longer see or hear her, so he then averted his attention to the older woman.

“Are you okay?” he asked from where he was standing, casting a somewhat worried glance at the hand of the woman. From his spot by the doorway, he could see she was bleeding, and there was broken glass around as well. “You’d best rinse that. Might still be some glass in the wound.” And just before the redhead returned on the scene, the man spun around and returned to the hallway. He trusted the girl knew how to take care of a cut, and if not, the maid surely would. It probably wasn’t the first time she’d had an injury. A few large paces later and the door to the outside world was within his reach. He placed his hand on the doorknob and it rested there for a while. Maybe even a minute or so. Why did he doubt?

The blonde man wasn’t planning to get used to such luxury. Actually, he preferred not to stay here. Even if it was a roof over his head, all these riches made him feel far too uncomfortable. So did that redhead girl, in a strange way. His hand came from the door handle again, though, his blue eyes aimed at the perfectly white tiles on the floor. Maybe answering a few questions wouldn’t be so bad. He’d get something in return for it, too. As he stood there, pondering his own actions, a call came from one of the near rooms. He recognized the voice, obviously, but the figure that fitted with it was nowhere to be seen. Not yet, at least. Her form would likely show up soon.

“This is my fault?” He questioned with some confusion in his voice, and yet, remarkably calm. Really, he couldn’t see what he’d done to make things worse; all he wanted to do was to leave the place. “You brought me here. Doesn’t that make it your fault?” He shrugged his shoulders slightly; this time, he wasn’t trying to outsmart her. He was simply stating a fact. This game was getting a little tiring anyway. His headache hadn’t eased yet and the ‘sleep’ he’d gotten this night didn’t exactly make the man feel very refreshed. He rubbed his temples gently. “Why don’t you just tell me what you want from me?” He sounded tired, indeed, as he asked the question. What was it about this game that she liked so much? “You brought me all the way here, and you’re just going to let me walk out again?” This girl was probably the most mysterious person in all Honey Tree Town, not counting Ilyas himself. He didn’t actually expect an answer to those questions, but the redhead would likely refuse to give any until he gave some first; and who was to say that, if he did give her the answers she wanted, she’d give him hers? What was a promise from her side really worth, anyway?

“What do you want to know?” If she’d tell him that much, at least he could consider answering, couldn’t he? Maybe.

[cynthia aphrodite georgiou]

I got so sick of being on my own,
Now the devil won’t leave me alone
It’s almost like I’ve found a friend

“Hey, I brought you here because you had fallen asleep in an alleyway and it was raining. I might not like most people much, but I don’t want to see them die on the streets from the cold. If you weren’t so stubborn, then maybe you would accept the help I’m trying to give you.” Aphrodite let a shrug fall off her shoulders as she walked further down the hallway and stopped a few metres from where the male was standing. “Well since you seem so unwilling to accept any form of help, I don’t see why I should force you to stay here against your will. It’s cruel.” Her eyebrows furrowed a little bit at her last words. If he didn’t want to stay here, that was fine with her. She’d tried to give him some help and he’d refused, so why should she force him to stay? She wasn’t going to get any answers normally from him anyway. Though it did seem like he was willing to answer a few things now, otherwise he would’ve left. He had the chance when Aphrodite had been distracted with Mary. “I’ll tell you what I want from you when I’m ready to tell you.” In truth, Aphrodite had very little idea of what she wanted from this guy. Information about him yes, there were things she’d managed to find, but not loads. There were questions that needed to be answered.

What did she want to know? Well that was an interesting question. Depending on what questions she asked would depend on what sort of answers she would get. She could either play it careful and dance around the edges or be straight up blunt about it. It was rather interesting to see the guy get worked up about how she could dance around the real reasons she did things. Though, if she wanted to get the answers she wanted, she would have to dive straight in and go for the questions she definitely wanted answered. Aphrodite didn’t know how long this guy would stick around for, let alone how many questions he would answer before giving up. In any case, if he wanted answers from her, she would have to prepare herself to be bombarded with questions.

It was a long shot, but Aphrodite might as well start off with an easy, probably simple question. “First of, why were you sleeping in an alleyway? From what I’ve found out, you’ve been sleeping in a hotel for the past few weeks. What happened? Money run out?” The end of that came out a little bit more bitter than she would’ve liked, but that wasn’t the point. Aphrodite hadn’t seen the male work anywhere in Honey Tree Town, which could mean that this guy hadn’t got a job. That would explain why he was on the street. But, then again, she couldn’t exactly be everywhere 24/7, so he could very well have a job. But if he had a source of income, Aphrodite wouldn’t have found him sleeping on the streets. That was the first thing she wanted to know. “Secondly, who’s ‘Mahina’? You said the name while you were sleeping and I’ve been wondering who they are.” Aphrodite knew he had a sister, was it possible that Mahina was the name of the girl? She shook that thought out of her mind. She’d looked into this after looking around, the girls name was Mahina. It could’ve been his parents, or maybe the name of his wife or child. That raised another question to her mind. If it was the name of his wife or child, where were they? She hadn’t seen him with any other family members when he was here and they would’ve been with him when he fell asleep in the alleyway. “If it’s a member of your family, where are they? It’s quite odd that you fall asleep in alleyway alone, no family or friends with you.”

“And the last question I have for you at the moment is why are you so stubborn about other people helping you? Not everyone out there is out to get you.” Aphrodite’s lips set into a thin line as she spoke. She wasn’t exactly sure of the last sentence she said. True, Aphrodite herself acted like that sometimes. She would rather help herself than ask others for help, but there was a line, even for her. She had seen what people could do, especially when they found out how rich she was. Aphrodite had learnt not to trust anyone until their trust had been proven. It would take a while, but she knew that not everyone out there was an asshole. But then again, she didn’t know all of this guy’s history, so she could be wrong. “Anyway, once I’m satisfied with your answers, I’ll let you ask me some in return.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked towards the male for his answers.

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[ilyas aylin]

Of course the first question would be an obvious one. And of course a rich brat would make fun of a homeless, who had to struggle to make ends meet. He did, however, wonder how she knew he’d been staying at a hotel; had he mentioned that sometime earlier? He hightly doubted that, but it didn’t really matter, anyway. “I was asked to leave, and that’s what I did.” And really, he’d left without even causing a fuss; he hadn’t the right to cause a fuss anyway. Not after putting the old lady through such emotional strain; something he'd pay her back for, by the way. He just had to figure out how. “And I like the outdoors,” he added to justify why he’d been ‘living’ in a back alley somewhere. It was a solid answer, and it contained no lies. Ilyas only ever lied for his own good, when there was an absolute need to. This question desired no deceptive answer.

At the sound of the girl’s name, his left eye twitched slightly, barely noticeable, but a sign of surprise, maybe even fear or maybe several things at the same time. This was exactly one of the reasons he kept himself far away from people when he fell asleep. Sleep was one of those rare moments a person wasn’t in control of themselves. Often, during his darkest dreams, even his water manipulating abilities would take over. Any liquids in rooms he stayed in he often found frozen solid and that wasn’t very useful when trying to keep a low profile or staying unnoticed. Besides, it gave away what he could really do, and not everyone was equally fond of those who are weird, the so-called ‘sprites’. It was best to keep your cover, especially in a small town. One could never know who was watching.

Ilyas wanted to snap at the redhead, but he quickly decided against that. Surely, that would only give away that she was on to something, something that he cared about. Or rather, someone. And an answer such as ‘None of your business’ probably wasn’t helpful either. His face remained expressionless, much like the face of the girl was as well. “I had a dream,” he confessed with a mumble, as his gaze fell to the floor, “About the moon.” That, again, wasn’t a lie; it was very much the truth. ‘Mahina’ was the moon. Her name was picked with care. “It’s Hawiian. What we call the moon.” That was enough of an answer for now. This girl could ask all the questions she wanted to, but Ilyas still had the right to keep his privacy. He didn’t owe her anything, not even because she took him back to her home and provided food and shelter. He hadn’t asked for that. And that thought practically lead to her next question.

Why didn’t he accept help? Well, that answer would be rather simple. “Accepting help always requires something in return,” he stated simply, his voice a little dull even as he still gazed at the surroundings. This place had many details. “I don’t like to owe anyone anything.” Because people would call upon such favors in the worst times, or would request the most unethical things imaginable.

“And in this particular case, I don’t accept your help, because I know you have ulterior motives.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “I highly doubt you’ve decided to help me out of sheer kindness.” Yes, the man was paranoid, but even one who wasn’t would’ve found this situation uncomfortable, to say the least. But now, he’d done what this girl had requested, be it reluctant. He’d answered her questions. Whether the answers were of her liking was to be seen, but he wasn’t going to change them, for they were merely the truth; perhaps slightly edited and without too many details, but they were the truth. Now, it was his turn.

The blonde turned towards the redhead now; all this time, he’d mostly shown his back to her, glancing over his shoulder every now and then. He had but one question he really wanted to hear answered, and it wasn’t something very complicated either. It was, however, something he couldn’t wrap his mind around on his own and needed the girl’s explanation for that. His lips slowly parted as his blue eyes continued to stay locked with hers. “The only thing I want to know is why you’re so damn interested in me.”